Found

Chapter 2- The Lot

Cesar pulled into the large parking lot under the hospital. He pushed the button that brought his window down. He smiled at the guard to the lot.

"'Morning Mr.Martínez!" the guard exclaimed.

"Good morning Edward."

"Please! Call me Eddy," the guard replied with a wide grin. Edward was Cesar's "buddy" at the hospital. Edward seemed like a cool guy, yet Cesar never really talked to him. They just greeted each other every morning. Cesar found a space right next to the silver doors that belonged to an elevator. He parked his car and as he made his way towards the elevator, something rather odd caught his eye. He stopped in his tracks and turned to see a bright white car parked next to his jet black version. The car was dripping wet just like his, yet Cesar never saw that car in the lot before. He seemed to remember most of the cars in the lot, for he worked at the hospital for quite some time now. Maybe someone got a new car, Cesar thought. He shrugged to no one in particular and entered the elevator. He passed by two levels to get to the one he worked at.

"Good morning Mr. Martínez," said a nurse as Cesar walked out of the elevator. He smiled and nodded at her. She walked by in a rushed manner. The hospital was a busy place. Cesar checked his wrist watch. He had to be in the office at 5:30 but it was 5:45! He dashed up the tiled floors, bumping into a few employees as he went. If he bothered to apologize to them, who knows how late he'd be?

At last, Cesar made it to his office. He stormed into the room and found he wasn't alone. Sitting in front of his desk was a young woman. She turned to face Cesar. She had a round, pale face, with rosy cheeks. Her eyes were a hazel-green color. She seemed shocked. Her eyes were wide with her eyebrows raised. Of course she's shocked, you slammed the door open, dumbass, Cesar chided himself. She wore a blue blouse over black dress pants. Her shiny black heels matched her leather handbag, which rested on her lap.

"Please forgive me, I'm not usually late. And I didn't mean to startle you," Cesar stated apologetically as he made his way to the other side of the desk.

"No problem. I should be the one apologizing. I shouldn't have entered your office without your consent," she answered. "My name is Sandra Pierce," she added as she shook his hand firmly.

"Nice to meet you Sandra, I'm Cesar Martínez," he replied with a smile.

"Oh please, the pleasure's all mine."

"Excuse me, I need to find the correct forms," Cesar said as he searched the tidy piles of paper that lined the back wall of his office. Once he found them, he turned and sat down. Here you go Miss," he stated as he handed Sandra the forms and a pen. She smiled. What a smile, he thought.

"Thank you, Sir," she replied politely.

"None of this Sir business. Please, call me Mr. Martínez," he said. He regretted it the moment he said it. He should have said, call me Cesar, but this was a work place, and he was the boss. They sat in silence as Sandra filled out the forms. He only heard the faint drops of rain and the young woman scribble on the paper in front of him. He watched her intently as she worked. A good fifteen minutes passed. There seemed to be hours of silence. Cesar waited for her sweet sing-song voice to fill the dull office again. At last she looked up with those large, unique eyes of hers.

"Here you go Mr. Martínez," she said. Cesar took the forms and was surprised to see her delicate handwriting. He read through the forms, and then the questions began.

"So, this is your second job interview?"

"Yes. I'm fresh out of college, so I was only able to work at a small coffee shop a few blocks from my school."

"Meaning you have no experience whatsoever in Nursing?" Cesar asked with sincere interest. She hesitated, then shook her head.

"None at all," she answered. Cesar nodded and continued reading. Everything seemed acceptable. But one section remained blank. The subtitle to that section read, Family. He dared to ask.

"Did you purposely leave Family blank?"

"Oh, I..." she stared out the window as she trailed off. Her eyes started to fill with tears.

"Please forgive me, I didn't mean to touch a bad topic," Cesar said with real concern.

"It's alright. But the truth is, my parents died when I was very young. I have no family," she stated with difficulty as she found a tissue in her bag. Her face was bright with tears. Her freckles were shiny as she wiped the moisture from her face.

"Tell you what. I'm giving you the job,"he said.

"Really?"

"Absolutely. You appear to be a very bright young woman. I'll give you a chance here at the hospital."

"This is amazing! Thank you Mr. Martínez!"

"I've thought it through. I think you should call me Cesar," he added with a smile. "Let me walk you out."

He opened the door leading them back to the main hall. It was six in the morning, quite early.

"Hello Sir!" exclaimed a doctor who passed by them.

"Morning Doctor James."

"You are close to your employees I see," Sandra pointed out.

"Yes, I like to keep a friendly relationship with all my workers," Cesar admitted.

"That's good. Some bosses are rude, but I'm excited to have you as my boss."

"You are?"

He looked towards her. She blushed as they entered the elevator. "Listen, it doesn't seem right, but I was wondering if you'd like to-"

"Go out sometime? Sure. How about tomorrow for lunch?"

"Sounds good," he said as they reached the parking lot level. He was relieved she made things easy. The silver doors slid open and they both stepped out to the concrete floors. "Are you sure you'll be able to wake up every morning at four?"

"If the job calls for it, then of course. This is my car," she pointed at a bright white car next to Cesar's black one. It was the one he saw when he came to work.

Once Sandra drove away in her car, Cesar was in deep thought. She was familiar... But who was she? This girl reminded him of someone, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Tomorrow he would find out who this girl really was.